Archive for March 5th, 2010

It’s a balmy 52 degrees this afternoon in St. Louis and the sun is shining brightly. Now that March is here it really feels to me like all the cold weather was left back with the Olympics in February.

With a much warmer forecast for the foreseeable future I am thrilled with all the warm weather activities I can now enjoy. My first inclination was to dedicate today’s Friday 5 to my favorite warm weather activities. However, this seemed like a rather lazy topic to me. Complaining about the cold and championing the warm is pretty standard. Spring>Winter in everyone’s book. So I decided to take the opposite position today just for a bit of a challenge. So here’s to the cold weather we are about to leave behind.

Top 5 Things I Enjoy About The Winter

1. Dressing in layers

Wearing layered clothing is not as comfortable as the summer shorts-and-t-shirt combo I favor, but it is way handier. The biggest advantage is the additional pockets. Typically I only have my front two pants pockets for storage in warm weather, and that’s just not enough1. Winter gives me an additional 2-4 pockets for storage depending on the jacket I wear.

Layers also give me a backup in case of accidents. If food or liquid manage to find their way onto my shirt, I’ve got a spare ready to go underneath. If I spill wine on my shirt in summer then I’m stuck looking like Wino McGee.

2. Snow days

There are few things as instantly gratifying as learning that snow will prevent me from leaving the house. Since I’m lucky enough to have a job that closes due to bad weather and actually still pays me, I get to think like a kid again. And that means lots of snow = vacation. Even better, it’s unplanned vacation, so all that shit I have to do at work can wait till tomorrow. And let’s face it, nothing beats getting paid for doing nothing.

3. Warming up the car

Now that we have a garage again, I can warm up my car before leaving the house. While this is usually just an extra step that wastes a bit of gas, it also functions an invaluable tool in hastening my wife’s getting ready process. Yelling “Honey, it’s time to go” is much more effective when I can add “the car is running” at the end of the sentence.

4. Formal events

This is strictly based on being a guy and having to wear a suit to formal occasions. Women have the option of summer formalwear and winter formalwear. Guys only have the suit. As such, attending formal events in the warmer months usually involves a ton of sweating.

For example, at my wedding I forced around 40+ men to sit on a beach in 90+ degree weather while wearing ties. It was a sweaty afternoon.

My buddy Jamie had his wedding ceremony in February. Despite the freezing drizzle all afternoon, I felt pretty comfortable in my vest and jacket combination.

5. A reason to cancel plans whenever I want

Cold weather is a great catch all reason to avoid doing undesirable things2.

Can I attend a fundraiser this weekend? Well, the weather forecast looks pretty bad and I don’t want to risk it.

Do I want to catch (insert local band name) this Tuesday nite at (insert shitty local music venue)? Actually, I think this cold weather is starting to get me sick so I should probably stay home.

Ciao,

The Captain

1. For example, if I’m going out to a bar I will typically bring my wallet, iPhone, car keys, digital camera and a Bic lighter. That’s a whole lot to fit in a pair of Levis, even with the watch pocket.

2. These are just hypothetical undesirable things. If I declined to attend and activity with you over the last couple of months it was for legitimate reasons…